Through an online meeting on Wednesday, January 17, 2024, the UGM French Language and Literature study program held a briefing for third-year students, namely 2021 students who will take part in the MBKM (Merdeka Belajar Kampus Merdeka) program. This briefing is related to preparing activities that can be followed as a substitute for even semester lectures in the 2023/2024 academic year. This is done to achieve the goals of the curriculum under the two themes of SDG 4, Quality Education, and SDG 17 Partnerships to Achieve Goals.

In this online meeting, students are given information regarding what internal or external activities can be chosen and then can be converted as a value for this even semester lecture. The MBKM activities offered by the study program include internship programs and independent projects in collaboration with several study program partners, faculties, and universities with a cooperation agreement.  Internship activities that students can carry out include ARTraduction translation agency, Institut Français d’Indonésie and Alliance Française throughout Indonesia, publishing agencies such as Mojok Publisher, as well as museums in Yogyakarta and Central Java such as Ullen Sentalu Museum, Radya Pustaka Solo Museum, Kraton Yogyakarta Museum, Tumurun Solo Museum, etc. For independent projects, there are film translation projects in collaboration with IFI Yogyakarta and film centers in France, and French language learning assistance projects in schools in Yogyakarta and surrounding areas.

In addition to programs initiated by the study program, students can also carry out MBKM activities funded by the Ministry of Education and Culture in the form of the Diktiristek Flagship program. Several students have been accepted into the program, including the program Kampus Mengajar at SMKS Piri Sleman as teacher partners, social media editorial internships at Kompas Gramedia Jakarta, internships in statistical cooperation positions at the Directorate General of Higher Education Jakarta, internships in the retail merchandising division at PT AEON Indonesia, independent study activities including mentoring and studying the establishment of digital start-ups with the Ministry of Communication and Information’s 100 Digital Startup Movement, and internships for French translation assistants at the DPR RI Secretariat General.

Departing from concerns about the inadequately facilitated rights of people with disabilities, both as performers and art viewers. As artists, Muhammad Jhony Fonsen (Tourism) and the team consisting of Reva (Nursing Science), Hatta (Indonesian Language and Literature), Eqi (Psychology), and Thomas (Chemistry) who were accompanied directly by Dr. Hayatul Cholsy, S.S., M.Hum worked together to initiate the PKM Community Service program with the program title “TOK-SHOW OBAH: Self-Actualization of Disabled People in the Arts through Dance Accompanied by Traditional Toys at the Bina Siwi Orphanage, Yogyakarta”.

Not necessarily causing personal unrest, the initiation of this program was aligned with the problems of the partner, namely the Bina Siwi Orphanage. The existence of a vision and mission that is not in line with implementation is a problem that must be resolved. Even though there are programs that refer to arts activities, these activities are not sustainable due to the high costs that must be incurred to bring in practitioners who are experts in their fields.

The “TOK-SHOW OBAH” program, turns out to be a beacon for our friends with disabilities at the Bina Siwi Orphanage. It can be seen that there are significant changes that can facilitate them. The synergy between the team and the caretakers of the orphanage was able to create a space for self-actualization through a collaboration of works of art with the traditional “Otok-otok” toy. These changes can be seen in increasing self-confidence, increased creativity through movement exploration, a level of happiness that slowly begins to emerge through smiling expressions, as well as their understanding of what art is.

Through a program that ran for approximately 6 months (June-November), of course, it did not continue to run smoothly. There were several obstacles that Jhony and the team were able to overcome in solving the problem. One of them is providing understanding to people with disabilities who have different characteristics. Low intellectual ability affects memory in memorizing dance movements and music tempo. However, the implementation of critical thinking practices, problem-solving, brainstorming with the team and accompanying lecturers, as well as the application of leadership are solution steps in solving problems.

That’s the long process that has been going on for the past year or so, starting from searching for a team and accompanying lecturers, preparing proposals, funding, and preparing progress reports, to qualifying for the 36th National Student Science Week (PIMNAS).

Even though Jhony and the team did not succeed in winning a medal at the prestigious PIMNAS-36 event which was held at Padjadjaran University on 26-30, Jhony managed to achieve an award as PIMNAS-36 Talented Student. Even though they were not successful in donating a medal, the TOK-SHOW OBAH Team also participated in bringing Gadjah Mada University back to winning the overall champion title and escorting the “PIALA ADIKARTA KERTAWIDYA” back home after stopping at another campus.

Jepara, (01/11/2023). A total of 25 sixth and eighth-semester students taking the Professional Japanese Language course in the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program at, the Faculty of Cultural Sciences, Gadjah Mada University visited PT. Autocomp Manufacturing Indonesia Jepara Semarang Factory (PT SAMI JF) on Jl. Raya Jepara – Kudus, Sengonbugel, Kab. Mayong, Jepara Regency, Central Java on Friday 1 December 2023. PT SAMI JF is a Japanese PMA under the Yazaki Indonesia Group which is affiliated with Yazaki Corporation, Japan. PT SAMI JF operates in the automotive components industry, namely the production of electrical distribution systems (wiring harnesses) for motor vehicles, especially cars.

This field study is part of the Professional Japanese course in the form of a visit to Japanese industry which aims to introduce students to the world of work, especially the culture and work ethic in the Japanese manufacturing industry directly. After 1-semester students study Japanese communication patterns and business ethics in lectures, at the end of the lecture students are invited to see and experience firsthand the world of work related to the Japanese language, especially in Japanese companies in Indonesia.

The group of students from the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program was received by the Vice President of PT SAMI JF Hidehisa Kurihara and Factory Manager Kazuhiro Fujita along with several staff. On this occasion, Kurihara welcomed this visit event positively and provided the widest possible opportunity for students to learn and gain experience through this activity. He also opens opportunities for students who want to do internships or apprenticeships at his company before graduating from college.

The visit began with remarks from Mr Kurihara, followed by a presentation about PT SAMI JF by Bagus Kusuma Putra as Senior Manager, as well as an explanation of the work ethic and ups and downs of working in Japanese companies by PT SAMI JF. Staff who are also UGM Japanese Literature alumni. Gantira Akbar and Muhammad Fatkul, followed by a visit to the factory area to see firsthand the production process at PT SAMI JF. During the visit to the factory, the group was divided into 4 teams guided by PT SAMI JF staff. After the break, Friday prayers, and lunch, the event continued with questions and answers, discussions and presentations by each team in Japanese regarding what they saw and observed as well as their message impressions during their visit to PT SAMI JF guided by the HRD Supervisor from PT Mrs. SAMI JF Listia. The event closed with judging and announcing the best student presenter team and continued with the presentation of prizes and group photos.

This visit activity was initiated by Stedi Wardoyo, S.S., M.A., and Najih Imtihani, S.S., M.A as course lecturers. The aim of this field visit activity is to encourage students to actively practice Japanese language skills for the business and professional world, as well as to provide concrete descriptions and information about the world of work, especially at Japanese companies in Indonesia. This field study activity was fully supported by the Head of the Japanese Language and Culture Study Program, Drs. Tatang Hariri, M.A., Ph.D. as one of the programs to support the Ministry of Research, Technology and Culture’s policy regarding Independent Learning Campuses and support the achievement of Main Performance Indicator (IKU) 1: Graduate Work Readiness and is also included in the SDGs indicators, namely SDGs 4 and 17: Quality Education and Partnerships to Achieve Goals. By referring to one form of implementation of Merdeka Belajar, students not only learn theoretically in class or on campus, but also go directly into the field to see, observe and experience directly the things they have learned during lectures. Furthermore, through this program it is hoped that it can bring closer, link and match between the academic world and the world of work, as well as provide input for the UGM Japanese Language and Culture Study Program to improve the learning process so that it is even better, able to produce graduates who are qualified and ready to work with good hard skills and soft skills expected by the business world.

The Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage is a triennial scientific meeting that was originally organised in Manila, Philippines by the Asian Academy for Heritage Management. The 2023 Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage will be held in Gwangju, South Korea, which is the 5th conference since it was first held in 2011. Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage 2023 with the theme “The Ocean Decade Challenges and the Maritime Cultural Heritage of Asia -Pacific” has a discussion panel session related to hot issues regarding the study of maritime heritage and underwater archaeology within the Asia-Pacific.

At this year’s conference, there were 26 panel sessions with researchers, academics and students from 40 countries with 300 participants presenting their research in maritime studies and underwater archaeological heritage in the Asia-Pacific region. Not only presenting, the researchers also published their research in the conference proceedings. In participating in the Asia-Pacific Conference on Underwater Cultural Heritage 2023, a Master student of the Department of Archaeology (Muslim Dimas Khoiru Dhony) was awarded as The Best Student Paper with a paper entitled Underwater Archaeological Remains in Matano Lake, South of Sulawesi, Indonesia: Evidence of Iron Age Civilisation in session 15 on The Archaeology of Submerged Landscapes and Inland Waters. The paper is the result of research conducted by the National Archaeological Research Centre (now BRIN) for 6 years in collaboration with researchers who focus on each field to examine the development of the Iron Age in Lake Matano. The activity is also an effort to carry out Sustainable Development Programs (SDGs) such as SDG 4 (Quality Education) Culture, SDG 8 (Decent Work and Economic Growth) Culture, SDG 11 (Sustainable Cities and Communities) Cultural Heritage, and Community and Disaster Risk Reduction.

Komodo National Park, as one of Indonesia’s natural treasures, has attracted the attention of tourists from all over the world. However, behind the charm of the islands and the unique fauna that reside within them, there is a deeper story about the Ata Modo tribe, which has been impacted by the rapid development of the tourism industry in the region. The Ata Modo tribe itself is a community that has inhabited the island of Komodo for a long time, even before the establishment of Komodo Island as the Komodo National Park. With the designation of Komodo National Park and the influx of tourism activities, the Ata Modo tribe experienced changes in their socio-cultural activities. One of them is the shift in the livelihood of the Ata Modo tribe.

The socio-cultural dynamics that occur in the Ata Modo tribe have been seen and investigated in the latest research by a research team that is part of the Student Creativity Program in Social Humanities Research (PKM-RSH) in 2023. This research team is called AtaModo UGM, consisting of Arif Putra Pratama (Faculty of Law 2020), Avicenna Elang (Faculty of Law 2021), An Nuur Khairune Nisa (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021), and Noor Risa Isnanto (Faculty of Cultural Sciences 2021). The research team was accompanied by an accompanying lecturer, namely  Dr. Dian Agung Wicaksono, S.H., LL.M. The research was conducted in approximately one week using participant observation methods, in-depth interviews, and searching for secondary sources from various literature and legislation.

The research entitled “Coercive Transformation of Indigenous Peoples: Marginalization of the Komodo Tribe Amid the Hegemony of Komodo National Park Tourism Development” seeks to find out about three things related to the social, cultural, and economic conditions of the Ata Modo tribal community. The research team succeeded in getting direct answers from the Ata Modo tribal community regarding three problem formulations. First, the Ata Modo tribe has cultural potential that can still be maintained and developed according to the needs of the Ata Modo tribe community and related parties who are interested in collaborating. By discovering the cultural potential that still exists in the Ata Modo tribe, the research team realized that this was to Koentjaraningrat’s theory regarding the seven elements of culture consisting of language, knowledge system, social organization, technology, livelihood system, belief system, and art. Second, it was discovered that until now there has been no legal determination of Komodo Village as a Customary Law Community or designation of a Traditional Village, this could result in a conflict of interest and the overriding of the traditional rights of the Ata Modo tribal community. Third, the arrival of the Komodo National Park and the tourism industry has made the Ata Modo tribal community experience a coercive transformation in social, cultural, and economic aspects.

Therefore, through this research, the PKM-RSH team hopes that these findings will provide valuable understanding and considerations for all parties involved in developing Komodo National Park tourism. In this context, special focus is given to the Ata Modo Tribe which is the center of attention, so that they can be actively involved in efforts to protect their cultural heritage and local wealth. This approach is also in line with the achievement of Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) number 11 regarding sustainable city and community development, in which the Ata Modo Tribe, as a community that has long lived on Komodo Island, also plays an important role.

Writer: Member of the UGM PKM-RSH AtaModo Team